Utah city picks ex-Covington chief to lead police dept.

West Valley City, City Manager Wayne Pyle, left, looks on as Lee Russo makes remarks after he was introduced as West Valley City's new police chief Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2013, in West Valley City, Utah. Russo was the police chief in Covington for the past five and one half years. Prior to that, he worked for the Baltimore County Police Department in Maryland where he became a captain and precinct commander. Russo takes over a department that has been in turmoil since the fatal shooting of an unarmed woman last November. An internal investigation led to the disbandment of the narcotics unit. / Associated Press/Rick Bowmer

A police chief from Kentucky with three decades of law enforcement experience is West Valley City's new top officer.

Lee Russo, 49, of Delaware, was introduced at a Tuesday afternoon news conference by outgoing Mayor Mike Winder and City Manager Wayne Pyle. They said Russo was selected following a nationwide search that was launched in May, beating out nine other finalists.

West Valley City - Utah's second-largest city with 132,000 people - has been without a permanent police chief since Thayle "Buzz" Nielsen retired in March. Anita Schwemmer has been serving as the acting chief.

Russo was the police chief in Covington, Ky., a city of 40,700 just south of Cincinnati near the Kentucky-Ohio border, for the past 5 1/2years. Before that, he worked for the Baltimore County Police Department in Maryland, where he became a captain and precinct commander.

Russo takes over a department that has been in turmoil since the fatal shooting of an unarmed woman in November. That sparked an internal investigation that led to the disbandment of the narcotics unit.

Prosecutors dropped more than 100 cases investigated by the unit and ruled earlier this month that the shooting was unjustified. A second investigation is underway to determine if the shooting warrants criminal charges against the officers.

Russo said he was not scared away by the issues facing the department, saying he's built a career on taking on difficult challenges.

He met some resistance in Covington, with the city's police union giving him a vote of no confidence in July 2009, the Deseret News reported (http://bit.ly/1dMqnAp ). Lt. Brian Valenti, president of the Fraternal Order of Police in Covington, said Russo was the only chief in the agency's history not promoted from within and came as an agent of change. Some of his ideas were good, but others didn't mesh with the policing style there, Valenti told the Deseret News.

Asked Tuesday about the union's resistance toward him, Russo acknowledged there was some pushback but said he stands by the changes he implemented. He said change comes two ways: either by people recognizing things need to be done and getting on board, or by forcing it upon them.

"I'm not afraid to do that," Russo said Tuesday of the second option.

Russo said he knows very little about Utah, having been born and raised in Delaware and working in the East, but said that allows him to come in without any preconceived notions of West Valley City.

Before making any major decisions, he said he'll spend time doing a comprehensive review of the agency, analyzing what happened in past missteps and how to prevent them from happening again. He doesn't know yet if he'll recreate the narcotics team.

"I'm not going to be foolish enough to step in and say, 'Here are all your answers,'" he said. "It's an opportunity for a fresh set of eyes to come in and ask questions," Russo said.

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Utah city picks ex-Covington chief to lead police dept.

A police chief from Kentucky with three decades of law enforcement experience is West Valley City's new top officer.